Battle Shackles

Mad Dog's eyes flashed with disbelief. He instinctively clutched his throat. His figure gradually faded and vanished.

It seemed that at the instant the blade touched him, Mad Dog had reacted and chosen to leave the Intersection Lands, saving his life.

"Watch out—" Word Spirit Master Qilin, who had the highest Spirit attribute, had not even finished his warning before he saw Mad Dog being forced to leave. That thin figure charged at him, daggers slashing wildly! After the fierce battle, Qilin no longer had enough Spirit Energy to cast a True Word Shield on himself. He could only rely on his hard-earned Level 3 Combat Specialization, fighting as he retreated.

Taurus stripped the Skeleton Mage Leader of its equipment and quickly tossed it into his storage space. He then strode forward to support Qilin, but a speck of light shot toward him from afar, transforming into a warped field of light that trapped Taurus like a swamp and drastically slowed him down.

Qilin could only face that terrifying enemy alone. His opponent clearly had Agility Specialization, moving like the wind in close combat! With their combat specializations being similar, Qilin had no way to withstand the assault. He was wounded repeatedly, and three or four bloody gashes deep enough to expose bone soon appeared across his body! The pain in his flesh was secondary. What truly frightened Qilin was the notification from the Spirit Realm Will.

An unknown enemy's normal attack dealt 27 Sharp Damage to you. You have been poisoned. Current stacks: 1. Poison effect: Lose 3 Health Points per second.

An unknown enemy's skill, Death Cross, dealt 19 and 21 Sharp Damage to you. You have been poisoned. Current stacks: 3. Poison effect: Lose 9 Health Points per second.

What tyrannical poison—it could even stack! Qilin realized something was wrong. Who knew how many stacks this poison could reach? With barely over a hundred Health Points, if he took another two hits, he would probably be poisoned to death! Although he had antidote items in his storage space, Qilin decided not to struggle. He immediately left, transforming into light and disappearing. Their opponent had ambushed and "taken out" Mad Dog first, and their side had lost its strongest member. Continuing the fight would only guarantee defeat.

On the glacier, before the tomb, only Taurus remained.

He had finally escaped the slowing field, only to be blocked head-on by the short, thin Awakened wielding daggers. Taurus glanced back and saw a woman in white robes holding a staff not far away, her expression icy.

"Who are you?" Taurus asked hoarsely. He noticed that neither enemy had activated their Spirit Energy Cameras. Clearly, this had been premeditated—they did not hesitate to violate the Intersection Lands rules set by the military!

"Don't ask questions you shouldn't. If you want to keep getting by in the Intersection Lands, hand over your Spirit Energy Camera obediently." The short Awakened's voice was raspy.

Taurus shuddered. "What do you want with my Spirit Energy Camera?"

"What do you think?" The short Awakened snorted coldly.

"You want to deal with Bai Pu?"

Taurus thought of a possibility. His Spirit Energy Camera was military-standard issue. Aside from its tracking function and the ability to check several friends' locations, he could not think of any other use for it.

Taurus also confirmed their identities. They had to be members of the Superstar Alliance! He had heard a little about the grudge between Bai Pu and the Superstar Alliance.

"Don't worry. You can't kill anyone in the Intersection Lands. We just want to teach him a lesson."

The short Awakened spread his hand. Two Spirit Energy Cameras were already lying quietly in his palm. He said coldly, "Even if you refuse, the cameras your two companions left behind are enough for us to find Bai Pu's location."

"Then why do you still want mine..."

Taurus abruptly stopped halfway through his sentence. He realized their purpose—

They wanted to prevent him from sending Bai Pu a message and warning him! If he handed over the Spirit Energy Camera, Bai Pu would be found by the two of them and driven out of the Intersection Lands. If he refused, then he would be driven out in Bai Pu's place! The reason they did not keep attacking him and forcibly seize the camera was probably because he was a tank class with thick skin and high durability. They were not confident they could take him down instantly. If he reacted and stubbornly managed to warn Bai Pu, all their efforts would be wasted.

Taurus wrestled with himself for a few seconds before obediently handing over his Spirit Energy Camera.

"Get lost." The short Awakened waved his hand.

Taurus cautiously backed away, then backed away further. Once he had reached a safe distance, he turned and fled.

The short Awakened ignored him and lowered his head to inspect the three Spirit Energy Cameras.

"Boss Fish Intestine, we got them, right?" the woman in white robes asked.

"Mm. We saw it with our own eyes. All three of them added 'Bai Pu' as a friend." The short Awakened's voice was raspy, but he placed particular emphasis on the words "Bai Pu," carrying a file-like hatred.

The woman in white robes said bitterly, "We ended up like this because of that damned experimental subject Bai Pu. How wonderful would it have been if he had obediently let us take him back? He actually dared to scheme against us, and in the end, we were the ones who lost the precious Anchor. We can't possibly afford to compensate for it!"

The short Awakened shot her a cold glance. "And Great Que's grudge. Don't forget that."

These two were the remaining members of the Sting Squad: Fish Intestine and Containing Light! A flicker of embarrassment crossed Containing Light's pretty face as she said, "Of course I remember. But Great Que is already dead, while we still have to live. Unless we take out Bai Pu, we'll never be able to turn things around."

The Sting Squad had lost the Evolution Source Blood and were required to compensate for it under the agreement, but how could they possibly afford it?

Fortunately, Little General Wu of the Superpower Corporation had made it clear: as long as Bai Pu died, the debt of Origin Blood owed by the two of them would be written off entirely!

Because after Bai Pu died, the Superpower Corporation would have the right to obtain his corpse under the Clinical Medical Agreement. The lost Origin Blood could naturally be extracted again.

Of course, the actions of the two Sting Squad members were personal revenge and would have nothing to do with the Superpower Corporation.

Fish Intestine looked at the location displayed on the Spirit Energy Camera and narrowed his eyes. "Bai Pu is in Black Mist Valley. Remember, our goal this time is not to force Bai Pu out of the Intersection Lands. It is to kill him in one strike!"

Containing Light said in surprise, "But we can't kill him in the Intersection Lands, can we? Wasn't the goal this time to drive him out?"

The areas where Awakened usually trained were no more than three: the Wilderness Area, the Intersection Lands, and the Spirit Realm Plane.

The Wilderness Area was the wilderness of the real world, filled with countless mutated beasts and all manner of strange demonized plants. Many grudges between Awakened were settled in the Wilderness Area. As long as they destroyed the body and left no evidence behind, it was fine! The various planes of the Spirit Realm had Main Quest restrictions, making it difficult for Awakened to leave. Ordinary escape items required ten uninterrupted seconds of preparation! But only in the Intersection Lands was killing inconvenient. As long as an attacked Awakened had a single thought, they could leave the Intersection Lands and return to reality, just like Mad Dog and Qilin had done moments ago.

Thus, the plan Containing Light had initially learned of was to drive Bai Pu out of the Intersection Lands, leaving him nowhere to go. If he wanted to increase his strength, he could only head to the Wilderness Area or the Spirit Realm, and those would be the opportunities to make a move.

Fish Intestine said blandly, "Don't worry about that. I prepared for it long ago!" As he spoke, he set an item in his hand to display mode.

Battle Shackles: Bloody item. Can be used on an Awakened. The user's and target's space will enter a state of stasis. During this time, neither can return from the Spirit Realm to reality, nor can they teleport from the real world to the Spirit Realm. Duration: 60 seconds.

The Intersection Lands were where reality and the Spirit Realm intersected, so the Battle Shackles' effect applied there as well.

"A Bloody item!" Containing Light was startled. "This is the first time I've seen one... Using this kind of item in the Intersection Lands is strictly forbidden, isn't it?"

"Are you afraid?" Fish Intestine asked coldly.

"No, I'm not..." Containing Light said, lacking confidence.

"That's why I didn't tell you from the start." Deep light glimmered in Fish Intestine's eyes. "This is no longer a question of whether you and I want to use a prohibited item. We have no choice! Can you afford to compensate for the Evolution Source Blood?"

Containing Light shook her head dejectedly.

"After this job, we'll go to Southeast Asia and lie low for a while," Fish Intestine said calmly.

Hearing that there was a way out, Containing Light relaxed slightly.

She seemed to realize her earlier weakness and hurriedly tried to make up for it, offering a suggestion. "Boss Fish Intestine, should we use this Spirit Energy Camera to send Bai Pu a message and have him meet up with his friends?"

"No. Bai Pu is only in the same organization as those three; they are not particularly close. Otherwise, they definitely would not have left Bai Pu to act alone while they fought a boss."

Fish Intestine analyzed, "Especially since we don't know what kind of relationship this Awakened called Taurus has with Bai Pu! If they have a bad relationship, wouldn't sending a message just alert the enemy?"